Conrad was

bishop of Utrecht List of bishops and archbishops of the diocese and archdioceses of Utrecht. Medieval diocese from 695 to 1580 Founders of the Utrecht diocese * * * * * Bishops * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

between 1076 and 1099. Before becoming bishop he was chamberlain of Archbishop

Anno II of Cologne Anno II ( – 4 December 1075) was Archbishop of Cologne from 1056 until his death. From 1063 to 1065 he acted as regent of the Holy Roman Empire for the minor Emperor Henry IV. Anno is venerated as a saint of the Catholic Church. Life He was b ...

and, for a time, tutor of Prince Henry, the future Emperor Henry IV. When the excommunicated Bishop William of Utrecht died in 1076, the emperor gave the

episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

to Conrad, who, like his predecessor, sided with Henry IV in his conflicts with Gregory VII, and at the

Synod of Brixen The Synod of Brixen was a church council held on 15 June 1080 in the episcopal city of Brixen. It was convoked by King Henry IV of Germany at the height of the Investiture Controversy to pass judgement on Pope Gregory VII. The synod issued a decree ...

in 1080 even condemned the pope as a heretic. The contemporary annalist,

Lambert of Hersfeld Lambert of Hersfeld (also called Lampert; – 1082/85) was a medieval chronicler. His work represents a major source for the history of the German kingdom of Henry IV and the incipient Investiture Controversy in the eleventh century. Life What ...

, calls Conrad a schismatic bishop, unworthy of holding an episcopal see. In a battle with

Robert I, Count of Flanders Robert I ( – 13 October 1093), known as ''Robert the Frisian'', was count of Flanders from 1071 to his death in 1093. He was a son of Baldwin V, Count of Flanders and the younger brother of Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders. He usurped the countsh ...

, Conrad was defeated, afterwards taken captive and compelled to yield part of

West Frisia West Frisia ( la, Frisia Occidentalis) is a term that, when used in an international context, refers to the traditionally Frisian areas that are located west of the Dollart (i.e. in the present-day Netherlands). Along with East Frisia and North ...

to Robert. This territorial loss of the bishop was compensated by the emperor, who, in 1077, gave him the district of

Stavoren Stavoren (; fry, Starum; previously Staveren) is a city in the province of Friesland, Netherlands, on the coast of the IJsselmeer, about 5 km (3.1 mi) south of Hindeloopen, in the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân. Stavoren had a popula ...

, and in 1086 added the two other Frisian districts, Oostergo and Westergo. He was in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

when king Henry was crowned by the pope as emperor in 1084. Conrad is the founder and architect of the collegiate church of Notre-Dame at Utrecht. He was assassinated, shortly after completing the Holy Sacrifice, by his Frisian architect whom he had discharged, and who, in the opinion of some, was instigated by a certain nobleman whose domains Conrad held unjustly. The church of Saint Mary in

got a chapter during his reign. He is said to have written the discourse ''Pro Imperatore contra Papam'', and to have delivered it at the

Synod of Gerstungen A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin word meani ...

in 1085. It is inserted by

Johannes Aventinus Johann Georg Turmair (or Thurmayr) (4 July 1477 – 9 January 1534), known by the pen name Johannes Aventinus (Latin for "John of Abensberg") or Aventin, was a Bavarian Renaissance humanist historian and philologist. He authored the 1523 ...

(d. 1534) in his ''Vita Henrici IV'' and by

Goldast Melchior Goldast von Haiminsfeld (Goldastus) (6 January 1576 or 1578, Switzerland – Gießen, Germany, 1635) was a Swiss jurist and an industrious though uncritical collector of documents relating to the medieval history and constitution of German ...

(d. 1635) in his ''Pro Henrico IV imperatore''. HefeleConciliengeschichte, V, 180, note. is of the opinion that the discourse is falsely attributed to Conrad of Utrecht, and that Aventinus himself is the author. He was killed at Utrecht by a Frisian on 14 April 1099.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conrad 11th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Holy Roman Empire 1099 deaths Prince-Bishops of Utrecht Year of birth unknown